ITOCHU Corporation

NH3 Clean Energy and Japanese trader ITOCHU will collaborate over the next two years to support the development of ammonia bunkering operations in the Pilbara by 2030.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and ITOCHU will use their own vessels to demonstrate ship to ship ammonia bunkering in Singapore in 2027. This week, ITOCHU also signed collaboration agreements for the development of ammonia bunkering near the Suez Canal.

ITOCHU has signed a world-first contract with Sasaki Shipbuilding for a 5000 m³ ammonia-fueled, ammonia bunkering vessel. The vessel is set to be delivered by September 2027.

We highlight ammonia developments in Taiwan in line with the island nation’s plans to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050:

• Taiwan’s largest fertiliser manufacturer, Taiwan Fertiliser Company, will collaborate with ammonia industry giants Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and IHI Corporation to develop a low-carbon ammonia supply chain.
• Taipower, IHI and Sumitomo have an agreement in place to develop a 5% ammonia-coal co-firing demonstration project at Taipower’s Dalin Power Plant by 2030.
• And ITOCHU and U-Ming Marine Transport’s partnership for the joint ownership and operation of ammonia-fueled ships.

MAN Energy Solutions has announced one of the first deployments of its ammonia two-stroke engine will take place in Japan. Mitsui E&S will construct the MAN B&W 7S60ME dual-fuel engine, with Imabari Shipbuilding to then install it aboard a Newcastlemax bulk carrier, along with an integrated SCR catalytic converter to treat engine NO_X emissions. The news underscores significant momentum for the deployment of marine ammonia engines, with Wärtsilä, WinGD and Mitsubishi Shipbuilding also engaged in ongoing projects.

The two partners will pool their resources to develop ammonia bunkering at the Port of Algeciras in Spain.

Syzygy Plasmonics, LOTTE and Sumitomo Corporation of Americas announced they will join forces to deploy & test Syzygy’s fully-electric, photocatalytic ammonia cracking reactor at LOTTE Chemical’s HQ in Ulsan, South Korea. Syzygy’s reactor technology uses light from ultra-high-efficiency LEDs to crack ammonia into zero-carbon hydrogen, eliminating combustion emissions usually associated with chemical manufacturing. The announcement is one of several new ammonia collaborations this week, with LOTTE, ITOCHU and Sasol all announcing new agreements.

A consortium led by Sembcorp Marine has been granted AiP by the American Bureau of Shipping for a new ammonia bunkering vessel design. Sembcorp and its subsidiary LMG Marin (who was recently engaged by Grieg Maritime and Wartsila to design the MS Green Ammonia) were responsible for the design phase, which passed a rigorous HAZID assessment with support from the American Bureau of Shipping. Consortium partners also include Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Itochu, two organisations with growing ammonia interests in Singapore. The new announcement is one of a number of ammonia & ammonia-ready bunkering designs in progress, with Korean Register, Oceania, Kanfer, Azane Fuel Solutions and the Korean Green Ammonia Shipping/Bunkering Consortium all at various stages of progress with their designs.

In early June, Itochu was part of a group of 23 founding signatories that kicked off a joint study into the feasibility of ammonia as a maritime fuel. This week that group has grown to 34. It now includes significant stakeholders from a diverse range of sectors: energy, mining, steel, power utility, chemicals manufacturing & distribution, shipbuilding, maritime terminals, maritime classification societies and of course maritime fuel production, supply & distribution.

This week: a roadmap for ammonia-fueled gas turbines in Asia, ammonia solutions in Iceland, IMO sets new decarbonisation milestone, new ammonia-powered vessels planned, maritime study developments, Australian updates (Fortescue, AREH and Itochu in Gladstone), Fertiglobe joins Abu Dhabi blue ammonia project and Statkraft's Porsgrunn plans.

Welcome to the Ammonia Wrap: a summary of all the latest announcements, news items and publications about ammonia energy. This week: new Japanese developments, new AiP for ammonia-fueled vessel, Singapore bunkering study, new ammonia from wastewater initiative, Fortescue brings carbon neutrality goals forward to 2030, Australian project updates for Hazer and H2U, and H2Pro updates from Israel.

Last week, Itochu Corporation announced an agreement with Vopak, the oil and chemical storage tank and terminal operator, "to jointly study the feasibility of developing an infrastructure" at Vopak's Banyan Terminal, leading to the "establishment of supply chain of ammonia marine fuel in Singapore."